On Wednesday, the U.S. Army post dedicated the largest solar photovoltaic system at the missile range.

The solar power system meets energy efficient requirements federally mandated by President Barack Obama.

"White Sands has gotten on board with that challenge (the energy efficient federal mandate) and so we are leading the pack, if you will, in this particular energy initiative and savings," said Brig. Gen. Gwen Bingham, commanding general of WSMR.

Solar energy will provide 10 percent of WSMR's installation power needs. The solar power will help provide energy for approximately 3,700 homes at the installation.

"It reduces the strain on the power grids for the community; it actually helps ensure that the community has more power when they need it," said Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army.

The four megawatt system will generate approximately 10 million kilowatt- hours of clean electricity annually and provide an estimated annual savings of $930,00.

The system will reduce annual CO2 emissions by 7,400 tons.

"I feel self-assured that we are on the right track. We're going to be a model for others to emulate," Bingham said.

The U.S. Army developed the WSMR solar project without capital investment.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers created the WSMR project through a public-private sector partnership that combined funding from an energy savings performance contract.

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Bostonia Bank, which owns the $16 million system, will sell power to WSMR at a fixed rate for the next 25 years.

The solar power system will be operated by Siemens USA.

"It's going to save the base money and we are going to operate it for several decades to come," Siemens President and CEO Judy Marks said. "So we think it's a win-win all around."

Siemens Government Technologies is a federally compliant U.S. organization that provides answers within the federal market in infrastructure, energy, insurance and healthcare.

"We do work for the U.S. government in every federal agency and all the parts of the department of defense in energy, infrastructure and health care," Marks said.

Construction of the solar power plant began last April and was completed last month. Texas Solar Power Co. was responsible for setting up the solar panels.

The ground-mounted solar modules and tracking systems by Solaria Corp. track the sun's movement across the sky, which increases the energy yield by up to 30 percent.

There are 774 solar panel trackers and each tracker has 20 solar panels on it. A total of 15,480 panels are set up at the solar field on WSMR.

The solar panels were built to withstand 95 mph winds. The solar array was built on a hill to avoid possible flood damage.

"Our current array is on 42 acres," Bingham said. "We environmentally cleared up to 250 acres -- so we do have the capability to expand for more."

Contact Janessa Maxilom at jmaxilom@alamogordonews.com. Follow her on Twitter at janessa_speaks